


Forgotten Memories

by SassyAngel



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Blood, Blood Loss, F/F, F/M, M/M, Sad, female/male - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-09
Updated: 2017-09-14
Packaged: 2018-12-13 11:04:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11758488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SassyAngel/pseuds/SassyAngel
Summary: Frisk had reset the timeline after an unintended genocide route. She's trying to make things right again, but is now filled with regret. Frisk has an idea that would save the monsters and finally free them, and she would get what she deserved. Sans notices something is wrong, and tries to remember.





	1. Chapter 1

“Back here again?” The short brunette thought to herself. She sighed as she looked up towards where she had fallen from again and again. She closed her eyes, remembering her most recent death. It was different compared to the other ones, but then again that timeline was different than the other ones as well. A shiver went down her spine as memories flowed in. She opened her delicate brown eyes and forced herself to stand up.

 

She looked down at her leg; as usual it’s bleeding slightly and scarred from the journey up the mountain. Her arm had its usual gash and her forehead had the same long cut connecting her brow to her scalp. She closed her tired eyes, feeling the sore bruise on her stomach; and despite all of the timelines, she was still uncertain whether she had any broken ribs or not.

 

She ventured her way deeper into the cave, knowing exactly what awaits her frail body. “Howdy!” Frisk sighed inwards. “I’m FLOWEY! FLOWY the FLOWER!” She patiently waited for the same dialogue she’s heard so many times to finish. She prepared herself for the usual friendliness pellets attack, ready to dodge at a moment’s notice.

 

Strangely enough, the petals never came. “You IDIOT.” The flower glared. “Why won’t you just DIE? And stay DEAD?” The girl frowned. “I remember. She got to you didn’t she?” A creepy chuckle immerged from the yellow plant. Frisk sighed softly; she didn’t really want to deal with this, with anyone really. Her last timeline was so sour, and it left her so bitter and guilty. She gently lifted her small, frail hands and began to sign.

 

“ _Say, Flowey, just this once… do you think we could be friends and if not friends, then at the very least… nice to each other?_ ” She expected the angry yellow flower to say something spiteful and reject her offer. She was fully prepared to feel the pain inflict from his pellets against her broken, determined soul. Despite all of the misgivings she had, the flower just looked up at her.

 

“Friends?” He tested the word on his lips as though it was foreign and new. He looked up at her and flashed a grin. “Who would want to be friends with YOU?” Frisk closed her eyes and sighed, feeling the words weigh heavily on her. And yet, despite his words, Flowey had seriously considered her offer, he was simply too stubborn to accept. “I’ll catch you around, human.” This didn’t sound nearly as hostile as it could have been, so Frisk waved woefully at the flower until it disappeared underground.

 

Frisk frowned, this had been the first time something like this had happened, but she refused to let herself hope that the next few timelines to come would be the same and heaven forbid any better. Then a thought came to mind… maybe there wouldn’t be any next few timelines. She wanted nothing more than to release the trapped souls of the monsters from the underground, and she really didn’t feel inclined to befriend them all anymore. She was used to being alone, so she could do that until the very end.

 

_Why won’t you just DIE? And stay DEAD?_

 

Frisk shivered, remembering the conversation that happened only seconds ago.

 

_Who would want to be friends with you?_

 

Nobody.

 

She sighed, and forced herself to walk forward. Soon, she knew Toriel would find her and help her like the motherly figure she so badly wanted to be. Frisk wouldn’t mind staying with Toriel forever, in fact in one of her many timelines she did. It was a peaceful timeline, but also a bit lonely. Eventually she had ventured out and died somehow. She badly wanted to curl up beside Toriel, her adoptive mother, and forget about everything that has happened to her like she usually did after a reset. She knew, however, that this time she didn’t even deserve to look at that wonderful and kind monster.

 

Maybe she could find another way out of the ruins? She knew she wouldn’t, but she could hope. She contemplated maybe sneaking into Toriel’s house and escaping the ruins… but that felt wrong and invasive.

 

“My, are you alright child?” Frisk stood dead on her tracks. She looked up to see a fuzzy white goat-like creature looking down at her with a small, sympathetic smile on her face. “Goodness child, you are all hurt… Why don’t you come with me?” If Toriel had asked this the first time the two have met, Frisk might’ve been scared. During her life before the underground, one of the many rules she learned to follow was stranger danger, but Toriel was no stranger. It was a shame that Frisk was one, though. “Ah, do not be afraid my child. I am Toriel, caretaker of the ruins. What is your name, dear?”

 

Frisk didn’t deserve this. She never deserved this even before the last timeline, so now she REALLY didn’t deserve this. She was a horrible human being. She felt sick. “ _Frisk._ ” She signed, already knowing Toriel would understand her. Toriel nodded and smiled.

 

“What a beautiful name.” Frisk couldn’t help but smile. Even though she didn’t deserve any of this, she still felt grateful for the light that Toriel shined in her dark world.

 

“Let us depart. My home is close by.” Toriel smiled kindly at the small child in front of her. She began to walk towards her beautiful house. Frisk slowly lifted her small hand but was quick to put it down. She didn’t deserve to hold hands with someone with such a kind soul. She followed Toriel through the ruins she spent so much time in all of her timelines exploring, and for the entire time her gaze was on the floor in front of her.

 

The next few days were spent with Frisk slowly letting her wounds heal and Toriel trying desperately to cheer up the sad child. It wasn’t soon before Frisk decided she needed to leave.

 

“You wish to leave?” Toriel was hurt. She wanted desperately to keep the child with her. She wanted to be a makeshift mother and take care of the wounded girl in front of her. She felt like a failure after failing to soothe whatever problems had made Frisk so… depressed. She felt like she couldn’t do anything to help this child.

 

Frisk felt her heart weigh heavy in her chest. She was guilty, but she didn’t deserve to be happy… not anymore. She felt horrible for making Toriel so sad, but she needed to leave. She needed to free her, free all of the monsters, and then she needed to disappear. She took a deep breath, deciding on how to explain things.

 

“ _Mom, I’m sorry._ ” She started to sign. “ _I don’t deserve all that you’re doing for me, and I need to go out there. I need to leave. Please, don’t be sad. I don’t want you to be sad._ ” She started signing more nervously now and her hands were moving quickly. “ _I want to stay, but I can’t. I want to thank you for everything you’ve done for me. I can’t begin to express how thankful I am to have met you._ ” She held back tears. This felt like a final goodbye. Maybe it would be.

 

“Child. Did you call me mom?” Toriel felt her heart flutter in her chest. “If that is what you wish to call me, then please do.” She smiled fondly at the child. “But child, you have done nothing wrong. I too wish for you to stay.” Frisk, much to Toriel’s disappointment, shook her small head. “Very well, I will not force you to stay.” She sighed. Frisk looked back down on the floor, and closed her weary eyes. She hesitated for a moment, before hugging the monster she desperately wished was her real mother. Maybe she wouldn’t be such a bad person if she had someone like Toriel to raise her. “My child?” Toriel couldn’t help but smile from the sudden display of affection. She truly had no idea what to feel, and she never expected Frisk to speak so highly of her after their brief time together.

 

Eventually, Frisk left the warm embrace of her mother and began to make her way out of the ruins. “ _Bye, mom._ ” She smiled warmly before exiting the ruins.

 

She kept on walking until she was sure Toriel would no longer see her, and then she let herself fall to the snow. Her body hadn’t fully healed, and it was kind enough to remind her of it with a constant beating pain. Usually she would stay with Toriel until her body had healed, but this timeline was going to be different. It was going to be quick. She gently placed her finger on her bandaged forehead, thinking once more about how grateful she was to Toriel. She was also thankful her bangs pretty much covered everything up, so all she had to do was avoid limping and she would look pretty healthy.

 

“Howdy there, friend.” Flowey immerged from the ground next to Frisk. Frisk turned her head to face the golden flower.

 

“ _Hello.”_ She lifted her numb hands to sign. “ _Is everything alright? Or are you here to try and kill me again?_ ” She noticed that he called her a friend, but figured he was just trying to mess with her mind like he usually did.

 

“No, not right now.” There was a moment of silence. “Why did you leave Toriel?” He finally asked, not quite looking at her.

 

“ _I want to reach my goal as soon as possible._ ” Frisk turned her head to look back up towards the sky. She wasn’t telling him the full truth, but he didn’t really need to know how she felt. He didn’t even care anyways.

 

“You should keep going, idiot.” Flowey grinned, making Frisk nervous. “Your FRIENDS are waiting to KILL you. Maybe you should stay DEAD this time.” The flower left with a nerve wrecking laugh.

 

Frisk was stiff. She knew she didn’t deserve life but hearing that laugh still sent shivers down her spine. She sighed, forcing herself to get up.

 

Soon, it would be time to meet Sans.

 

Frisk felt her heart sink, wondering if this time he would remember or forget. She didn’t know which one she preferred, but it didn’t matter. In the end, his friendship was something she no longer had a right to. No, she really didn’t, not after she killed his dear brother.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meeting the brothers and making a friend!

“Human. Don’t you know how to greet a new pal?” So, it was this introduction he was going with this time. Frisk closed her eyes briefly, before turning around to face Sans. So he hadn’t remembered, after all. She looked at his hand, extended towards her. She knew Sans had some sort of prank in mind, but she didn’t know if she wanted to pretend to fall for it or just keep walking. “C’mon kid, don’t leave me hanging here.” She saw Sans’ smile falter a little and her heart sank.

 

She took his boney hand, feeling slightly nervous. Whenever Sans’ smile faltered even a bit, something was wrong. Frisk decided that from this point, it would be best if she pretended to follow the timeline like she would usually.

 

A loud farting noise pierced the thin air the moment they shook hands, and Sans began to laugh immediately. “Heheh… the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. It’s ALWAYS funny.” Frisk couldn’t help but smile. She missed his horrible jokes and bone puns, and truthfully, she missed Sans. “Anyways, I’m Sans. What’s your name, human?”

 

“ _My name is Frisk. It’s nice to meet you, Sans._ ” She forced a smile, holding back her frustration. Thankfully, this would be the last time she’d have to introduce herself to Sans.

 

“Frisk, huh? Cool name, kid.” He always had to call her that, didn’t he? Frisk nodded her head, signing a small thank you. Sans was now staring at the girl in front of him, at first he just wanted to introduce himself and see if the human was good or bad… but after taking a good look at her soul, and seeing how she was acting weird confused him. Had she been through this before? “Say, kiddo…” Sans started. “Are you okay? You seem a bit… off.” Frisk tilted her head, wondering what he meant by off. How would he know how she usually acts if he doesn’t even remember her? Frisk smiled and waved off the question.

 

“ _I’m sorry, but I’m in a bit of a rush. Maybe we can talk some other time?”_ She wasn’t really sure if there would be some other time, and she wasn’t sure she deserved it either.

 

“Kid…” Sans said slowly, but whatever he had to say died when he saw her determined eyes. “Have a good trip. My brother’s up ahead and he’s hunting humans, so be careful.” Sans was staring at the girl’s bored face, wondering if anything he said was new or just old news. “Don’t worry, he won’t harm a soul.” When he said this, he swore he saw the girl flinch. She looked pained for some reason, like there was some bad mojo in the air. He didn’t say anything though, he just observed.

 

“ _Say, Sans…”_ Frisk took a small breath, calming her self down. She needed to be fine so Sans wouldn’t suspect anything. “ _Would you mind it if I interacted with your brother?_ ” Frisk knew that there would be no way to avoid Papyrus; he was always going to be in the path she took. She knew he’d try to ‘capture’ her, but he just wanted a friend. Frisk badly wanted to be that friend, but she just didn’t have a right to talk to Papyrus anymore. She knew she was asking the wrong Sans, since she hadn’t killed this Papyrus from this timeline, but she figured this would be as close to getting permission from Sans from the previous timeline as she could get.

 

“I don’t see why not, but if you do anything to hurt him.” Sans grinned as usual, but soon the whites in his eyes faltered and Frisk could only see the terrifying, dark, and empty eye sockets. The last time she had seen those were at the judgment hall, before she died. She flinched slightly. “Y O U ‘ R E G O N N A H A V E A B A D T I M E.”

 

Frisk nodded slightly, trying not to feel scared. She turned around and kept walking in solemn silence. Sans watched her slightly, curious to see what the girl had in mind. He then disappeared from plain sight, not that it would’ve mattered since Frisk wasn’t bothering to look back. She walked alone for a while, only stopping when her eyes wondered to the small flower in front of her.

 

“I don’t understand.” Flowey was glaring at the girl. Frisk looked at the flower and sat down next to him, deciding to give him some attention. She cocked her head sideways, waiting for him to continue talking. “You barely spent any time at Toriel’s and now you don’t even talk to Sans properly. Isn’t he supposed to be your best friend?” Frisk looked down at her small hands.

 

“ _Not anymore. Not in this timeline, in this timeline I won’t have any friends._ ” She didn’t know why she told him her intentions, but she decided that was enough interaction with a homicidal yellow flower. She was about to stand up before she heard Flowey say something relatively surprising.

 

“Don’t be silly. We’re friends, aren’t we?” He had a creepy smile in his face, yet he seemed genuine with his words. Frisk was caught surprised, she never expected to hear something like that come from Flowey. She smiled softly and nodded, deciding that maybe it would be okay if she was friends with Flowey in this lonely timeline. Before she could say anything else to him, Flowey disappeared into the ground and left Frisk alone and filled with determination.

 

Frisk continued walking in the snowy terrain, preparing her self mentally to face Papyrus. She didn’t know what she would do when she saw him. Would she cry? Feel remorse? Hate herself even more? Or would it maybe be all of the above? Whatever it was, she hoped it didn’t show when she met with him.

 

Soon, the brown haired girl stopped, facing one of the many traps laid out for her from the younger skeleton brothers. She smiled softly, easily going through the motions she’s done time after time in other timelines. It’s funny, they barely ever changed; everything barely changed. She was the one who changed. Frisk grimaced at the thought. She looked down at her tiny hands. At first she thought she had changed for the better, but it seemed she was wrong. It doesn’t matter though, because she’d set it all right. In this timeline, she’d get it right.

 

She kept on going, facing trap after trap without paying much mind to any of her injuries. Her determination kept her going even after her body willed her to stop. She wanted nothing more than to stop and rest… not that there was any good place to actually do so. She’d probably get frostbite if she sat around long enough to actually rest up.

 

Eventually, she had made her way to a microwave and a bowl of spaghetti. It was obviously put there by Papyrus, it always was. Frisk felt her heart heavy and tears form in her eyes. “Oh Paps.” She thought with a small smile on her face. She picked up the bowl of spaghetti and willed herself to take a bite, and, just like she remembered it, it was just plain bad. She still couldn’t help but smile fondly at the plate of gross spaghetti. She really did miss the big skeleton.

 

But it was her fault he was gone in the first place. Her smile vanished and she put the plate down. Time to move on. She sighed, wiping away the wet tears still forming on her hazelnut brown eyes, and started walking again.

 

As she made her way closer and closer towards where Papyrus usually greeted her, she couldn’t help but remember all of the fond times she had with the brothers. They treated her like family in almost all of the timelines, and the ones where they didn’t she would forget about. Some memories are better left forgotten.

 

It was dead silent with the only sound coming from Frisk’s boots that scrunched the glistering snow. The wind blew softly against Frisk’s face, leaving her cold cheeks with a rosy pink color. She was shivering slightly now, feeling herself grow more and more tired. Her leg was starting to hurt more and more, and her head began to ache with the painful reminder that she hadn’t slept, eaten or drank properly. The wound on her forehead and arm didn’t help the situation either. She bit down on her cold lips. It would be over soon, and with that thought in mind she stayed determined.

 

Soon, the lonely silence was interrupted by a loud, ear-deafening, and beautiful laugh. Oh how she missed that laugh. “HELLO THERE HUMAN!” Frisk looked up to see the tall skeleton staring right back at her. “I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AND I HAVE COME TO CAPTURE YOU!” She blinked back tears and held back a smile. She felt relieved to see her boisterous and loud friend. Despite their previous encounter, she was also happy to see Sans standing right beside his brother.

 

“ _Hello there! Was it you that left that delicious spaghetti lying around?”_ She signed, knowing full well that he would be more than happy to know someone thought of his spaghetti as delicious. “ _I hope you don’t mind that I ate it all.”_ She signed, knowing full well that he’ll never check whether or not she actually ate it or not. She felt bad for lying, but she didn’t want to hurt his feelings. She _never_ wanted to hurt his feelings. She never wanted to hurt _him_. But she did.

 

“YOU ENJOYED MY SPAGHETTI, HUMAN?” If Papyrus had eyes, they would have lit up in sheer happiness. Frisk nodded. “THAT IS AMAZING, YOU HAVE FINE TASTE IN SPAGHETTI I SEE! AND WHAT ABOUT THE PUZZLES? WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT THE PUZZLES?” He asked expectantly. Frisk smiled softly.

 

“ _They were simply magnificent! I just wish I could meet the mastermind who created them.”_ The moment Frisk signed this Papyrus basically shook with excitement. Frisk was glad she could see him happy like this one more time, one last time. She smiled fondly at him, trying not to remind herself how his dust felt in her small, shivering hands.

 

“WELL HUMAN, TODAY IS YOUR LUCKY DAY BECAUSE I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WAS THE GREAT MIND BEHIND THESE PUZZLES!” He laughed wildly and loudly, obviously excited with his new friend. “SANS, I HAVE DECIDED THAT AS A REWARD FOR SOLVING ALL OF MY PUZZLES THUS FAR, I AM POSTPONING CAPTURING THE HUMAN AND INVITING THEM TO EAT DINNER WITH US!” Papyrus declared, immediately walking towards Frisk and grabbing her hand. “COME, HUMAN.” He started to drag her towards his home in Snowden.

 

Frisk went with him, remembering all the plentiful times she walked towards their home, sometimes with them and sometimes alone. She glanced at Sans, who was still standing still where Papyrus had left him. He was looking at her with a small scowl on his face, and Frisk knew that was never a good sign. She offered him a small smile before looking back towards Papyrus. “It’s okay Sans, this’ll be over soon before you even know it.” She thought to herself. Seeing the brothers alive and well filled her with determination. She _will_ save them, one way… or another.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which everyone has dinner and things get sad.  
> Whoops.

Dinner with Papyrus was exactly as Frisk expected it to be. The moment they entered their home, Papyrus demanded that Frisk sat on their couch as he prepared his famous spaghetti. He immediately put on his apron and began making a mess at the kitchen, something Frisk couldn’t help but smile at.

 

“Say kid, I gotta ask…” Sans slid onto the couch, sitting next to her. “Did you really eat all of the spaghetti and like it?” Sans was frowning a bit, finding it unbelievable that anyone would actually eat, let alone enjoy, Papyrus’ spaghetti. Frisk stared at Papyrus for a bit and smiled, and then she looked at Sans and made a face showing her full disgust towards the monstrosity they were calling edible food. Sans chuckled lightly, understanding full well the meaning behind her expression. “So why’d you lie.” He looked at her eyes. He was still trying to figure out what type of person Frisk was.

 

He thought back to when he first met her. If it wasn’t for the promise he made to the lady on the other side of the door, he would’ve killed Frisk the moment he laid eyes on her. He wasn’t even expecting a human to appear out of the blue like that! For some reason, her timing felt so… wrong. It felt like she would only show up in a few months or at least weeks.

 

When they first met, he was almost tempted to just end it all right then and there. She had refused to respond to him at first, turning around a bit too slow for Sans’ liking. When she did finally turn around and take his hand, he noticed how bored she looked… or rather, how she already expected him to play some sort of joke. She gave him a smile, but it didn’t seem like the smile was a reaction to anything he did. But the most unusual and suspect thing about the human was that he could only see sadness in her eyes.

 

He had followed her for a bit, but she moved quickly and expertly. It was almost as though she knew exactly what to do in every puzzle and situation she was up against. She was nice and friendly to all of the monsters she met, but she refused to actually sit down and talk to any of them… except for Papyrus. For some reason, the kid was determined to make sure Papyrus was so damn happy he’d be bursting with joy. Sans appreciated it, but he couldn’t help but feel worried that something bad was going to happen, especially after Frisk asked him if she could spend time with Paps. He wondered if Frisk could mess with time, or at least had some sort of hidden ability.

 

“ _I figured it would make him happy._ ” Frisk shrugged, not really wanting to indulge him with an answer. I killed him and I feel bad wasn’t quite the best answer she could give him.

 

Frisk looked down at her tiny, painfully scratched up legs. She remembered a few timelines ago when they were longer, when she was taller. She remembered being a teenager almost ready for adulthood. She remembered having stayed for almost two years at Toriel’s home, only to spend many more at the brother’s abode. She remembered wanting to spend time with her friends and doing many silly activities with them. She remembered how heartbroken she felt when she finally decided to continue with her adventures. She remembered dying.

 

She always remembered dying.

 

Frisk felt her child hands curl up into a ball. “You okay Kiddo?” Frisk looked back up at the skeleton. He seemed worried. She seemed sad. She forced a smile and nodded, giving him a thumbs-up. Frisk mentally chastised herself, she needed to focus on this timeline and ignore the rest. “Are you sure?” Sans asked curiously, but before she could answer Papyrus began screaming at the two.

 

“BROTHER! LEAVE THE HUMAN ALONE SO SHE CAN TRY SOME OF MY AMAZING SPAGHETTI!! COME HUMAN!” The taller skeleton basically dragged Frisk into the kitchen, eagerly handing her a plate. She smiled as she took the spaghetti plate from him, and she was trying desperately not to notice how intently the skeleton was looking at her.

 

Frisk easily took a huge bite, and, to both the skeleton brothers’ surprise, smiled and kept eating. “ _It’s so_ good!” She signed as she chewed, trying her best to ignore the awful taste of the horrendously cooked meal. “ _One day, you should teach me how to cook as good as you!”_

 

Papyrus was ecstatic.

 

“WELL HUMAN, I SUPPOSE I CAN POSTPONE CAPTURING YOU LONG ENOUGH TO TEACH YOU HOW TO MAKE THE BEST KIND OF SPAGHETTI! NYEH HEH HEH!” Frisk couldn’t help but stare at the younger, taller skeleton with the silly red cape. Sans couldn’t help but notice. She forced back some tears and covered any painful memories with a toothy smile and a mild chuckle. She couldn’t believe how desperately she missed his laugh.

 

Suddenly, Papyrus realized something crucial. “I NEVER ASKED YOU FOR YOUR NAME, HUMAN.” Frisk blinked, mid forced-bite. She never really did give him her name in this timeline, but then again she never intended to. The less he had to remember her by, the better. “I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, APOLOGIZE FOR BEING RUDE!” He declared. “WHAT IS YOUR NAME?”

 

Frisk looked down at her plate. She lifted a hand and started to shyly spell out her name. The closer they grow the harder it would be for them to part, although Frisk was quite used to the parting part. She didn’t want to inflict any pain to anyone this timeline, even the pain of losing a friend.

 

“FRISK? I LIKE THAT NAME, HUMAN!” Papyrus smiled happily. “NYEH HEH HEH!” He couldn’t help but laugh. It’s been a while since he interacted with anyone other than his brother and Undyne… Especially someone who actually liked the same things he did! He couldn’t help but feel happy. “HUMAN, IT’S GETTING LATE! DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS FOR THE NIGHT?” Frisk looked up.

 

Sans, up until this point, had been very uncharacteristically quiet. He couldn’t help but observe everything the tiny human did and signed. She was acting rather odd… and he couldn’t help but feel like things should’ve been different. He had many questions for her too, like how did she know that his brother loved spaghetti? How did she know he’d leave that spaghetti out there for her? And how did she know how to talk to him so easily? She didn’t seem at all worried about being surrounded by monsters that could try to kill her, and she didn’t even seem bothered by the change in surroundings. She baffled him.

 

The most alarming thing about her though, was that she could have bad intentions. She could be cruel and uncaring, though she didn’t seem like it. She knew too much and said too little, and Sans knew that wasn’t a good thing. When Papyrus asked Frisk about their late night plans, he immediately knew Paps was thinking about inviting the human for a sleepover. Paps was just kind like that, and he was just naïve like that. Sans actually didn’t mind it though, it mean that, once Papyrus was asleep, he could spend the entire night questioning Frisk or at least observing her. He almost wanted her to give him a reason to kill her. If only he hadn’t made that damned promise…

 

“ _I was going to spend the night over at a friend’s place. They invited me to hang out with them! It’ll be a fun sleepover, I think._ ” Papyrus deflated slightly, but tried not to look as sad as he felt. He really wanted to hang out with the human some more, but if today was a bad day they could do it tomorrow! He cheered himself up… not even taking a moment to realize that no other monsters in the underground liked Frisk or even knew she existed. But Sans noticed.

 

“ALRIGHT, MAYBE SOME OTHER TIME WE COULD HAVE A SLEEP OVER TOO! IT WOULD BE FUN! NYEH HEH HEH! I COULD SHOW YOU THIS AMAZING SHOW HOSTED BY METTATON! YOU WILL LOVE HIM!” Frisk smiled fondly, remembering the many memories she had with that over-fabulous robot. She nodded, having no intention of actually keeping her newly made promise.

 

“ _Thank you for hosting me Papyrus! You’re so cool!”_ Frisk calmly stood up from her chair. “ _I really should get going though._ ” She signed with a slight frown. Truthfully she didn’t want to leave, but she didn’t get to do what she wanted in this timeline. In this timeline she did what she had to do to set things right.

 

“That’s a real shame, Frisk.” Sans finally spoke up. He realized that he wouldn’t have the golden opportunity he was hoping for, so he was going to have to make one himself. “I was hoping you could stay and humorous for a bit.” Frisk grinned slightly and Papyrus groaned. At least she liked puns. Sans grinned.

 

Frisk shook her head and waved her hand, walking towards the door. “ _It’s been very nice eating with you two, but I really have to go. I’ll see you soon though! And I can’t wait to learn your recipe Paps!”_ Frisk smiled, not even realizing the small slip up she did. She wasn’t close enough to address Papyrus simply as “Paps” in this timeline. Thankfully, Papyrus didn’t even bat an eye socket since he was too busy relishing the fact that she had called him “cool”.

 

“OF COURSE HUMAN! HAVE A GOOD NIGHT AND COME AGAIN SOON!” Papyrus waved her off enthusiastically before picking up the plates and setting them on the sink. “IT’S A SHAME SHE LEFT SO QUICKLY.” He said to no one really.

 

“Bye, kid.” Sans said coolly, watching her leave and shut the door behind her. He wasn’t about to let her off the hook that easy, she had a lot of information that he needed to know. She had a lot of answers for a lot of his questions and he fully intended on teleporting next to her and begin his barrage of questions, at least he did until he noticed his brother strangely glaring at him.

 

“IT’S TIME FOR BED, SANS!” Sans tried not to sigh as the younger skeleton dragged his brother for their nightly routine. He decided to postpone asking Frisk his questions until Papyrus fell asleep, however long that would take.

 

Frisk walked quickly away from the comfortably, warm home that belonged to her two favorite skeletons. She made turns left and right throughout Snowden, trying to put as much distance from that house as possible. She needed to get away… she needed to stay focused. Despite her determination, she couldn’t help but remember everything. It was overwhelming.

 

She remembered all of the times Papyrus taught her how to make spaghetti for the first time. She remembered all of the puns Sans said and repeated. She remembered all of the late night shows she would watch with Sans while Paps was sleeping. She remembered the many meals they shared, and how Sans would teleport the spaghetti away when Paps wasn’t looking. She remembered Sans taking her to Grillby’s ever so often and downing a bottle of ketchup like coke. She remembered and it was overwhelming.

 

She was basically running at this point. She had no idea where she was going but she didn’t care. She just needed to get out and stop remembering. She needed to forget. She needed to be forgotten. Her vision was blurry with the hot tears that were forming and her body hurt from the numerous injuries that she refused to let heal. She still didn’t care.

 

She started to remember how badly it hurt whenever she had to start a new timeline. She remembered how they all forgot about her time and time again. She remembered how dejected and lonely she felt. She remembered feeling empty and she remembered letting Charna fill her empty body with hate and dust-lust. She remembered killing, and remembering was overwhelming.

 

Frisk suddenly tripped on a loose branch, feeling herself fall to the ground heavily. She fell against a sharp rock that, painfully, dug into her poorly covered shoulder. The small fabric from her shirt easily ripped and blood started flowing. She didn’t necessarily pay too much attention to her injuries though; they wouldn’t hurt for long anyways.

 

The brunette forced herself to sit up and look at her surroundings. She was in a forest. Thankfully, she knew the underground like the back of her hand, and she knew that eventually she would find her way back. She sighed, curling against a tree and sinking her head into her arms. She felt defeated, and so, she cried.

 

Every memory that she had was a new reason to cry. She felt an overload of emotions drowning her into a sea of remorse that emerged as a never-ending waterfall of tears.

 

She cried for what felt like hours, until there were no tears left to fall. She stayed still in her spot, however, curled up against the hard tree on top of the cold snow. She didn’t realize she was shivering. It was definitely cold, and her frail, injured body didn’t do well with the cold… especially with only a shirt on. She could easily die right here, right now and end it all… but she needed to deliver her soul. She needed to free the monsters. She could just die and start it all over again, but that would be too painful and she doubted her broken heart could take much more… at this point it was just adding salt to the wound.

 

She stood up, forcing herself to ignore the cold pain she felt. The cold surprisingly helped as a small anesthesia, making it a little more bearable. She took a deep breath in and began to move again. She was going to set things right.


	4. Chapter 4

Frisk wasn’t lost, not entirely at least. She had been walking around the same direction she had come from, cursing at herself for running blindly. She sighed, shivering slightly. She was freezing, holding her arms as a frugal attempt to warm her frigid body. She was tired from spending the entire day walking, but thankfully not hungry. For once she’s actually glad she had to stomach Papyrus’ spaghetti. She giggled slightly at the thought.

 

Eventually, Frisk somehow managed to find her way back into Snowden. She couldn’t help but smile at her small achievement. She was still cold, but the thought of being back into the town that she loved dearly warmed her up ever so slightly.

 

Frisk took a moment to look around at the familiar town. It felt like she hadn’t been there in ages, mostly because she zapped through it in the previous timeline. She was, however, glad it wasn’t like she remembered from last time. When she had left this town, it was abandoned. The snow was no longer the beautiful white that shined brightly, but instead it was covered in gross amounts of gray dust. The sight was morbid and depressing, yet she still remembered marveling at it. No. She remembered _Chara_ marveling at the sight of her destruction.

 

“Okay, moving on.” She said after her quick break, filling herself with determination. “I can do this.” She whispered to herself. She made her way around town, occasionally stopping to help a monster with some mediocre chore or simply to wave and smile. It was her last goodbye. It was the least she could do after all the harm and death she had caused in the previous timeline.

 

Eventually, she had made it to her final destination… The Waterfall. She closed her eyes, remembering that in most if not all of the timelines she’s been through, Undyne spent a good portion of her time hunting in the Waterfall. She remembered the many spears that pierced her frail body, and the many painful deaths she had trying to cross this bridge. No matter how many deaths she had, she was always determined to cross and find her way home and hopefully a way to free her friends, the monsters, without having to die. At least… she was before the last timeline.

 

Frisk sighed, walking towards the bridge and sitting down in plain sight, waiting. She smiled as she saw some of the blue flowers she always loved. Sans showed her these flowers so many times, and yet strangely each time it was different somehow. She smiled, wondering what they were whispering today.

 

She was glad that the Waterfall was a warmer place then Snowden. Her long sleeved shirt did little to protect her from the freezing weather of the town she lived in for so many years. Normally, she’d take a jacket from either Toriel or the Brother’s or maybe even from both. They had always taken care of her, and she killed them. Well, except for Sans. She never even laid a hand on him… that was the one thing she couldn’t do.

 

Without warning, a spear shot out from the darkness right beside Frisk. The girl flinched slightly, but didn’t move. She raised her hands and waved. “ _Hello!”_ She knew Undyne didn’t know sign language yet, since she only learns it after befriending the human girl, but she figured it might be a good way to catch Undyne’s attention.

 

Strangely enough, it worked.

 

“Are you not afraid, human?” Undyne walked out of the cover of the pillars in front of her that shrouded her with darkness with her spear in hand. “And what’s with all that hand waving? Are you preparing some sort of attack?” Undyne asked refusing to reveal any emotion. It was terrifying, Frisk thought, but the small girl has seen worst. She’s seen Sans when he’s mad, and that was far scarier.

 

Frisk drew in a deep breath, preparing herself mentally. She opened her mouth to speak, trying to will herself to use a voice she’s refused to use for far too long. Since even before she’s left her home above ground she hasn’t spoken, choosing instead to communicate with signs. Now, however, she didn’t have the luxury of silence. She needed to say her last words before she… died.

 

“Hello.” She tried, it sounded soft and barely audible but thankfully it was silent enough that Undyne could hear her clear enough. Her throat hurt slightly from the unused muscles and her voice felt rough and croaky, but she refused to be anything but determined. “Undyne, take my soul.” She went straight to the point, not trusting her voice to last long enough to send her message. “Free monsters and protect them.” She spoke slowly making sure each word was communicated well enough. “Humans can be cruel. Please protect everyone.”

 

Undyne was taken aback. She never expected the human to willingly accept death for her honorable cause. The previous humans begged, ran or tried to bargain. Even if they accepted death they still did so reluctantly and negatively. Frisk was calm, and she knew what she was saying. She even knew Undyne’s name and wasn’t afraid. “Very well.” Undyne looked at the girl, wondering if she had some ulterior motive.

 

“Before you kill me. Promise me…” Frisk felt her voice give out, but these last words needed to be said. “Promise you will take my soul and protect and free everyone… especially Toriel, Alphys, Papyrus and Sans.” The girl looked up at Undyne with determination in her eyes. “Do you promise?”

 

Undyne nodded slowly, surprised with how caring the girl was to the monsters. Humans were supposed to be bad. “I promise.” Undyne smiled softly. “I also promise your death will be painless and quick.” She decided to give the human a small act of kindness.

 

“Thank… you.” And with that, Frisk felt her throat close out. She could no longer use her voice, at least not for a while. It took a lot of strength to speak, a lot more than she thought was needed. She sighed softly, closing her eyes and waiting for the final blow patiently. Hopefully, it really would be quick and painless… but she knew she didn’t deserve that.

 

“Goodbye, human.”

 

Frisk felt a sharp pain in her chest.

 

But the pain was barely even a prickle. Frisk opened her eye, not sure what she expected to see. Her imagination would lead her to believe that maybe Undyne had a change of heart, or that maybe something caught her attention.

 

The last thing she thought she’d ever see was vines tightly holding Undyne’s spear and protecting her… especially since those vines belonged to an angry yellow flower.

 

Undyne was struggling with the vines, trying to urge her spear forward and to kill the human, but Flowey wouldn’t yield. “Howdy friend!” The flower had its sickly sweet smile on, but Frisk knew better than to believe in that smile. Hesitantly, she waved at the flower.

 

Undyne watched, wondering what the hell was going on. Had the human betrayed her? Who was this yellow monster and why was he defending the girl? Why was he taking away her chance at freeing everyone?

 

“Tell me, Frisk.” The flower stared at the girl in front of her. Undyne made a note to remember that name. “Just what DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING? YOU IDIOT?” The flower now adorned its demonic smile, alarming Undyne. Frisk wasn’t really affected by that horrid smile anymore, she was used to it.

 

“ _I’m doing what I always do. Dying.”_ Frisk signed simply, not quite wanting to explain herself. “ _I thought you liked it when I died?”_ She tilted her head.

 

“I do. YOU’RE JUST AN IDIOT THAT DIES AND DIES. But you come back. You ALWAYS come back.” Flowey was angry, but Frisk couldn’t quite understand why. “Now you’re trying to DIE FOREVER. You’re trying to LEAVE me ALONE. YOU. I D I O T.”

 

“ _There are many other monsters who are much kinder than me here, Flowey! And once you’re free you can meet other humans like me.”_ Frisk smiled sadly, trying to convince the flower it was going to be okay. She was surprised to hear that the flower didn’t want her to die permanently, mostly because that’s all the flower talked about.

 

“You’re the only one who’s seen her.” This time, Flowey was whispering. This time, Frisk knew there was something more than just Flowey wanting his friend to live. Frisk understood now. Frisk was the only other person, aside from Flowey, to know that Chara is still here. “You’re the only one who knows.” Frisk gulped, nodding slightly.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was actually supposed to be a part of the last chapter, I didn't realize I had uploaded it with it… So here ya go!  
> It's quite short since it's a snippet of a chapter… But yeah!  
> My bad!!

“ _I’m sorry, Flowey. I still need to do this. I will be with you, with Chara, in spirit.”_ She was trying to reason with the yellow flower.

 

At this point, Undyne was only present for one side of the conversation since she wasn’t quite sure what Frisk was doing with her hands. She was smart enough to connect the dots, but had many questions still such as who was ‘her’ and what did the flower mean when he said ‘dies again and again’? Did Frisk die before? That was impossible since people can only die once. It wasn’t a human thing since the previous humans died once and never came back. Despite her curiosity, she was still focused on her mission.

 

“Flower, let go of the spear. Now. I will not let you stand in between me and the freedom of the entire monster population.” Undyne warned. Flower didn’t even bat an eye.

 

“Wow Frisk, you’re an idiot… But your friends? They’re EVEN DUMBER THAN YOU.” Flowey laughed manically, sending chills down Frisk’s spine. She hated that laugh.

 

“I am not this humans friend.” Undyne said bitterly. “We are enemies, and she is the key to freeing monster kind.” Frisk looked down, blinking back tears that wanted to form. After everything they’ve been through? And they were still not friends.

 

Undyne was hard to be friends with, she was dedicated to freeing monsters and Frisk was the only person who could do it. Every timeline, if Frisk lived long enough, Undyne was difficult to convince to be pals. She was a kind person, but she was too stubborn. Frisk could vividly remember every death she experienced because of the fish monster, but she could also recall all the laughs shared, all of the spaghetti made and all of the wonderful moments they had together.

 

But they weren’t friends.

 

“Look at that, you made Frisk very upset. Can’t even remember your friendship with her huh?” Flowey laughed again. “It’s okay Frisk. I won’t forget. I’ll be your friend FOREVER.” Frisk hesitantly looked up at Flowey. She knew the flower well enough to know he was up to no good. “And as your friend, I’ll make sure NOONE MAKES YOU S A D.” Another creepy laugh could be heard from the yellow monster and Frisk’s eyes widened.

 

Frisk didn’t hesitate to react when she saw Flowey send in a wave of vines and friendliness pellets up towards Undyne. She sprinted to her feet and put herself in between the big blue monster and the attacks.

 

She screamed.

 

“Gosh, you really are an idiot.” Flowey laughed, but it wasn’t as maniacal as before. Frisk gritted her teeth, holding the vines that pierced her frail shoulder. Her eyes were teary and the pain was overwhelming. “Fine. Have it your way.” The vines retracted and Frisk felt herself fall from the ground. She looked towards where Flowey had popped up from, but she saw no one.

 

Undyne couldn’t believe what she just saw. She even dropped her spear in surprise. Did the human, no… did Frisk just sacrifice herself for a monster? Not just any monster either, but the monster that had declared their rivalry and denied their friendship. “H- human?” She wavered, unsure of what to do. She could easily end it right then and there, but how could she possibly do that to someone who just saved her? When the girl didn’t respond she began to worry. “Frisk??” Why did she care?

 

Frisk slowly looked up, somehow managing to work through the pain. She smiled at Undyne and nodded her head. “Do it.” She mouthed, picking up the dropped spear and holding it up for Undyne to take.

 

“No! I… I can’t.” Undyne shook her head. “Damn it to hell.” She just wanted to free monsters, why did the human have to be such a damn wimp with a good heart. Frisk nodded, understanding Undyne’s code of honor. She used the spear to prop herself up and gave the monster a big, goofy smile.

 

She lifted the spear.

 

And then she struck.


	6. Chapter 6

Sans had just finished putting Papyrus to sleep. It had been a few minutes, so thankfully not that long. He immediately went out in search of the small human girl. He figured she wouldn’t have gotten far given her small stature.

 

Yet he couldn’t find her.

 

He started wondering around town, not quite sure where Frisk would even want to go. The first place he checked was Grillby’s, figuring the girl might want some decent food after the mess Paps gave her to eat. She wasn’t there. He then checked the Librarby, wondering if maybe she just went to read a book after dinner. She wasn’t there. He searched everywhere, throughout the entire town. She still wasn’t there.

 

He first started to feel annoyed, and then bothered, and lastly worried. Why he felt worried over a stranger he had just met he didn’t know, but he couldn’t help it. He teleported everywhere, carelessly wasted his energy and only focused on finding the child. He had hopped that she maybe actually had a friend she was visiting.

 

He sighed, giving one last swoop around town before giving up and returning home. It was at that moment that he heard a painfully familiar scream.

 

Why was it so familiar?

 

He teleported towards the source, it was far away so he had to teleport in bits, but he made it. His eye sockets widened when he saw Frisk holding Undyne’s spear…

 

…and pointing it at herself.

 

She was trying to spear herself. Why was she trying to spear herself? Why was she trying to die? Sans quickly teleported to the girl’s side, grabbed her hand, and used his magic to force the spear out of her hand and throw it away. He glared at her, surprised to see her shoulder a bleeding mess. “Say, kiddo. Just what the hell do you think you’re doing?” His eye sockets were dark, with only the blue essence of his magic to give them any light. He was mad. Why was he mad? He didn’t care, but he was mad. For some odd reason, the sight of Frisk pointing a weapon at herself was too damn familiar and it only brought anger towards the funny skeleton.

 

Frisk tried to struggle out of his grip, but he wouldn’t let her go. Was he afraid that she’d die if he didn’t cling on to her? Yes. He was. He continued to glare at her even after she began to shake fearfully, only stopping when he saw frustrated tears fall from her eyes. Instead he directed his anger towards Undyne. Did she make the kid do this? “Explain.” He demanded. His pupils were back now, he knew he wouldn’t get anywhere with letting his emotions overwhelm him, but damn was it hard to control his temper.

 

Undyne opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She wasn’t quite sure what just happened. She was confused. Why did the human, who was supposed to be a cruel creature, readily sacrifice herself for monster? She was at a loss for words.

 

“Fine.” Sans couldn’t help but feel impatient. He was left behind on everything, he didn’t know jack shit and he didn’t like knowing nothing. He took another look at Frisk, she looked so small and ready to break, and teleported her towards Grillby’s.

 

The pair was now standing in front of the door to Sans’ favorite restaurant. Sans looked at Frisk, but she only looked down at her feet. Why? He wanted to understand this girl but she was quite the enigma. “Are you okay?” He asked, but received no response from the still shaking girl. “I’m sorry if I spooked ya kid. I swear that wasn’t what I was going for. How about we BONEd over some grease food? It’s our favorite.” Sans frowned. Why did he say ‘our’? Strangely enough, Frisk perked up after hearing him say that. Sans smiled, glad he did something right for once. “And lets take a look at your shoulder afterwards, okay?” Frisk nodded.kk

 

The two went inside. Any monster that dared even look at Frisk received a deadly menacing glare from the oldest skeleton brother, but the girl didn’t even care if she was stared at. She was used to it by now.

 

They sat on Sans’ two favorite stools in front of the bar. Sans calmed himself down, and tried his best not to seem angry or scary. “What do you want to eat kid?” He looked at the girl with his usual smile on his lips. The girl simply shrugged. Sans thought for a bit before turning over to his pal Grillby. “Two of the usual, please.” Grillby nodded and Sans looked back at the kid. “I’ve got a few questions for you that have been rattling my bones. Would you be willing to answer them?” Another nod.

 

Damn, this was harder than he thought it should be since the girl was so distant. For some odd reason, he remembered her being friendly and kind. Truthfully, Frisk was tired. She wanted nothing more than to just give her soul to Undyne and end it all. She didn’t want to talk to any more of the people she once called her friends, and she didn’t even deserve to talk to them. She had little determination left, and she treasured it like gold.

 

The last time she had no determination was the last timeline. She refused to give Charna power again.

 

“Do you think traveling back in time is possible?” He finally asked. Frisk looked at him with a sad, bitter expression on her face and nodded ever so slightly. “Have you done it?” Sans already knew the answer, but he wanted to make sure. She nodded again, looking down this time. “How many times?” Finally, she lifted her shaking hands.

 

“ _I lost count after I reached 64, but if I had to guess it would be in the triple digits.”_ She shrugged. Sans’ eye sockets widened, not expecting her to have traveled so many times. He felt a tinge of anger, but retracted it. No wonder he felt like everything was too familiar.

 

“Going back in time is like making monsters live their trapped lives in repeat, you know that right?” Frisk remembered him explaining something like that a couple of timelines ago, and she also remembered soon dying afterwards. She nodded. “So why did you do it so many times?”

 

Sans was worried when she didn’t respond for a while, but it was soon replaced with slight anger when she simply shrugged at him seemingly indifferent. Frisk simply didn’t want to tell him she reset only after each of her deaths, and she didn’t have the heart either.

 

Thankfully, before Sans had the chance to yell at her, Grillby set their order down right in front of them. “Thanks.” Sans said, calming himself down. He was showing a lot of restraint he didn’t even know he had. The small girl gave the fire monster a smile and a nod in appreciation.

 

Frisk had missed eating at Grillby’s with Sans, and so she reveled in every bite taken and every second spent. She was thankful Sans decided to let them dine in peace, only exchanging a joke or two between bites. Frisk laughed a bit, she didn’t think she would ever laugh again. Her smile almost reached her eye, but every time she attempted to be happy she reminded herself of the previous timeline. She didn’t deserve to be eating here with Sans, laughing at silly jokes and pretending everything was fine.

 

She was thankful that the warm monster food helped heal her up a bit, since it would make her journey back to Undyne a little more bearable. She sighed, wondering when it would finally be over. She looked over at Sans, ready to sign him a silly joke before she saw him frowning and looking sadly down at his plate.

 

“ _What’s wrong, Sans?_ ” She signed, feeling worry fill her tired heart. He looked down at her small figure, feeling a sense of Déjà vu. He hated when he felt that, and he hated how he couldn’t find it in his bones to hate and blame the small child in front of him for that feeling. It was all so weird too, everything felt like it was done wrong. He felt like he shouldn’t have met Frisk yet and that she shouldn’t have wisped by Snowden so quickly and almost gotten killed by Undyne. She was guilty for repeating the timeline so many times, but somehow it felt wrong to hold it against her. Why?

 

“Tibiahonest with you kiddo, I can’t put the pieces together. I don’t understand why you went back so many times. I don’t understand why you keep repeating things, and why everything is so off. Not to mention what happened with Undyne. It’s almost like you were trying to get yourself killed.” He stopped talking, realizing he was getting angry again. Nothing made sense, how could he not get angry?

 

Frisk looked at him for a moment before turning her gaze towards her half empty plate. How could she answer him? She shook her head, refusing to reveal anything to him. She knew he’d feel anger and guilt if she told him how many times she’s died, and that would only make her feel even more miserable. Instead she looked at him and shook her head.

 

“Kid, you’re going to have to start giving me answers.” Sans sighed, disappointed and worried with how secretive the human child was being. What was she hiding? Would be harmful? Would it hurt the monsters? Would it hurt his brother? Sans was about to open his mouth again before he noticed Frisk lift her shaking hands.

 

Frisk smiled softly, but her smile didn’t reach her eyes. She decided that if Sans needed to know something, then he should know what truly matters.

 

He should know she is a cruel, horrible person that kills…

 

…And she knew the perfect way to tell him.

 

“ _It’s a beautiful day outside. Birds are singing. Flowers are blooming_.” Frisk signed bitterly, remembering every word said to her before her death. “ _On days like these_ ,” she stared at San’s blank eyes, “ _kids like me should be burning in hell_.” A sick smile twisted her lips in self-disgust.

 

A faint memory taunted Sans, revealing to him bits and pieces of what happened. It revealed to him a nightmare he didn’t to remember. He didn’t quite remember the moment, but he knew those words and he knew them well. Those were words he said, and not just to anyone. Those were words he said to a killer, and to the person who dusted someone dear to him. Those were the words he said to his brother’s murderer. He was livid.

 

  
“Leave.” He barked, not even able to look at the girl without feeling anything but rage. Frisk nodded, flinching slightly at the sight of Sans. He was shaking in anger. His fists were clenched and his teeth were gritting against each other. His eye sockets were pure darkness and his tone of voice was threatening. He was rage itself, and Frisk deserved all the hate he had to give to her.

 

She quietly stood up, walking away in shame and guilt. She closed her eyes. Her mind was made up, she was going to make things right and now there would be no one to save her miserable life. Before she left she needed to apologize, at least once, to the eldest skeleton. “I-“ She barely heard her own pathetic voice. It was still so hard to speak. “I’m sorry.” Frisk finally said, turning around to see if the skeleton heard her. Much to her disappointment and slight relief, the skeleton was gone.

 

Frisk walked out of the cozy restaurant biting back tears. She didn’t deserve to cry. She tiredly began her journey towards the Waterfall, and towards where she remembered Undyne’s house being. “I’ll make things right again.” The girl thought determined.


	7. Chapter 7

_Sorry? She was SORRY?_ Sans was too angry to think rationally, and he was too angry to realize those words seemed so damn familiar. He was too angry to realize Frisk hadn’t spoken to him until that point. He was just angry.

 

He had teleported home the moment he heard those words, mostly fearing if anything had happened to Papyrus while he was gone. He didn’t know why, but he was afraid the human would kill his brother in this timeline again.

 

She ate dinner with them. He felt disgust in his stomach. He couldn’t believe he had let a _murderer_ into their house. What’s worst is that Papyrus actually mentioned how he liked the human. What was he going to tell his brother? “Hey Paps, just thought you should know that the human is a scumbag and I plan on killing them the moment I lay eyes on them again” didn’t sound like the right thing to say.

 

Sans groaned, rubbing his forehead. He was so damn tired. He sighed, making his way towards his room. The thing that bothered him the most is that despite all of the anger he felt towards Frisk, he still couldn’t bring himself to loathe her. “What’s wrong with me?” He thought to himself with a groan.

 

The eldest skeleton brother fell on his bed, deciding he’d deal with all of this tomorrow. He hated going to bed when he was angry, but it couldn’t be helped. Damn that stupid human. She could die for all he cared…

 

Except he did care…

 

Sans tried to remember what had happened, but he couldn’t. It was too damn hard to remember what never happened. He sighed, finally deciding to let himself fall asleep.

 

“Kids like you should be burning in hell.” Sans glared at the red-eyed girl covered in dust. He hated the demon she had become and he hated how he remembered a time when they were best friends.

 

The girl simply laughed at him, not taking him seriously. Big. Mistake.

 

“Tell me, kid. Why’d ya do it?” He glared at her with a forced smile. “Why’d ya go ahead and kill everyone? Tell me before I kill you.” It was more of a demand then a request. He wanted to know why the sweet little Frisk he knew turned into such a cold-blooded killer.

 

“You honestly still think this is Frisk?” The girl let out a sick laugh. Sans flinched slightly. He was surprised since he never heard Frisk speak before. In some other timeline, she remembered explaining to him that it hurt to talk. “That’s just sad. Sorry to burst your bubble… but Frisk is as good as dead.” Those red eyes stared coldly at him, without a hint of emotion.

 

“What?” He couldn’t believe it, how could the person in front of him not be Frisk? She looked exactly like Frisk minus the red eyes, but he figured that might’ve just been a human thing.

 

“She lost her determination. So I eventually convinced her to take control.” The girl grinned. “Dunno if you’ve heard of me. My name’s Chara… does that ring a bell?” There was a sick laughter in the air. Sans felt a cold sweat and a shiver down his spine. “You should’ve heard her cry after every monster I dusted. The moron believes she still had a semblance of control.” The girl chuckled as Sans was frozen in place. “Oh but she cried the hardest when I killed sweet ol’ Paps.”

 

“Shut the hell up Frisk.” Sans glared at the girl, refusing to believe this bullshit she spewed. Had Frisk gone insane?

 

“Wow. Don’t believe me, huh?” The girl shrugged, indifferently. “Whatever. Still, I can’t wait to have your dust in Frisk’s hands.” Chara let out a wicked laugh.

 

“Yeah right, like I’ll let that happen.” Sans began his attack, striking down the girl he believed to be Frisk. He felt his heart break from having to kill someone he had once cared for so deeply, but that same girl was now nothing more than a murderer and a dirty brother killer.

 

The two fought for what seemed like an eternity, and ultimately they were both starting to become exhausted. Soon, one other the other would die. Sans hated to admit it, but the human was strangely good at dodging. He wasn’t as confident that he’d win as before, but he had to. He was going to avenge his brother and defend the remaining monster populace.

 

The two were standing now, taking small breaths in a small cease-fire. They glared at each other, waiting for the other to make a move. Waiting for a chance to make a move -a final blow.

 

“Tired already kid, ready to give up?” He glared down at her.

 

“Not even close.” She barked back. “This is goodbye Sans.” The girl lifted the small dagger she was using to attack.

 

“Goodbye, Frisk.” He said, anticipating her attack. He brought forth a new set of bones, sharpened to kill.

 

The girl started to laugh as she began to strike, but it was cut short. Instead, she started wearing a worried frown. Sans stared slightly confused. “N-no. You’re supposed to be gone. I have… I HAVE CONTROL HERE.” The girl grunted closing her eyes, it was obvious that there was some sort of internal dilemma happening. Sans wondered if this was the perfect time to strike, but curiosity got the better of him. “No.” The girl’s voice was now a mere whisper, and her eyes closed as her body went stiff.

 

Sans was about to open his mouth and ask what the hell was going on but quickly stopped when he saw a familiar pair of chestnut colored eyes. They were sad, nothing like the murderous red eyes that could be seen before. There were tears forming in those sad eyes. Frisk, the real Frisk, tightened her shaky grip on the dagger and took a breath.

 

She lifted a hand. “ _I can’t let her get you too. Not you._ ” She signed, looking down at her feet, her tears finally falling from her small face.

  
“That really wasn’t you… was it kid?” Sans suddenly felt a wave of relief flow through him. He couldn’t begin to understand what had happened, but he was glad that the demon killing all the monsters actually wasn’t Frisk. Chara… that name seemed vaguely familiar. He had heard it somewhere before. He was about to smile fondly at the girl before he noticed how stiff she was. “Kid?” She looked up at him, and he realized that she was struggling. One eye was red and the other brown, she was still fighting.

 

“I… will… kill… YOU!” Full red. Sans felt hopeless. It was like he had lost yet another friend. He gritted his teeth. Frisk wasn’t in control, and maybe she would never be again. He needed to do what he needed to do, whether he liked it or not. Fate was cruel. He would much rather want to live in ignorance and not know that Frisk was innocent all along. It would be so much easier to kill her that way. Now he’d have to live with the guilt of knowing he could’ve saved her… but didn’t.

 

Chara lifted the dagger beginning to attack once more. Chara was once more in control, and Frisk couldn’t do anything about it. Chara was the powerful one. Frisk was weak. Frisk had given up. Frisk had no determination left.

 

And so, Chara struck.

 

Sans couldn’t believe what he just saw. In one second Chara was charging at him at full speed and in the next Frisk was digging the dagger straight into her heart. Her body fell limply and Chara screamed. “NO!”

 

Sans watched silently as Frisk’s rich blood began to color the yellow floor red. He didn’t know what to do and he didn’t know what to say. He weakly walked towards Frisk and he was surprised to see her small brown eyes staring right at him.

 

“I’m sorry… Sans.” She said weakly, coughing up blood in the process. “I’m so sorry. I’ll fix it. I promise. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry.” The girl kept repeating her apology until it was nothing more than a painful moan.

 

And then there was nothing left of that timeline.

 

 

Sans woke up agitated. What the hell was that? He looked down at his shaking phalanges. Was it another one of his nightmares? No. That felt too real to be a simple dream.

 

It was a memory.

 

He shivered, trying desperately to calm his nerves. Had that really happened? If so, it would explain a lot. It would explain why Frisk always looked sad and guilty. It would explain why the sight of Frisk holding a weapon against herself was so damned familiar. It would explain why he had felt he knew the girl.

 

They were best friends? He remembered Chara mentioning something along those lines. Frisk was his best friend… and he told her to leave in pure anger.

 

“Oh no…” His eyes widened. Frisk was probably in danger. A weak human that was already bleeding was just walking around a cold town with no one to look after her. Shit. He needed to find her.

 

He was about to start looking for her in a frantic panic… That is until he heard his phone ring. He didn’t want to wake up Papyrus, so he quickly picked it up.

 

His heart sank when he saw who was calling. It was Undyne.

 

“Oh no.” He whispered silently.


	8. Chapter 8

Sans made his way towards Undyne as quick as he could. He was teleporting and taking shortcuts to get to her house as fast as possible. He hadn’t a second to spare. Undyne had simply told him to get his boney ass over to her place and then hung up. She hadn’t specified why but Sans could already imagine the answer: Frisk.

 

Knowing Undyne, she had already killed Frisk and taken her soul. Sans knew there was nothing he could do to save her, but he still ran as fast as he could only hoping.

 

He remembered what if felt like to see Frisk die. It was awful and it was unfair. If he had known it wasn’t Frisk, he could’ve tried to save her. He could’ve reached out to her and helped her take control again. She didn’t have to die. She didn’t have to kill herself. Sans gritted his teeth.

 

Soon, he found himself standing in front of Undyne’s door. He hesitated for a moment, wondering if Frisk was still alive, and then he knocked crisply at the door. “I’m here.” Sans said calmly.

 

Undyne answered the door with a tired expression on her face. “Come in.” She gestured towards her home. She was wearing her normal civilian clothes, and her hair was uncharacteristically loose and untied. She had slight bags under her eyes and a scowl on her face.

 

Sans nodded, walking in casually. “So why’d you call me over?” He asked instead of the real question bothering him: where is Frisk? Undyne looked at him with a smile and kept walking. Sans grew more worried. Did she already kill the girl?

 

“She’s laying on the couch.” Undyne pointed towards where she was keeping Frisk. Sans quickly walked towards her.

 

Frisk looked like the face of death itself. Her face was a white pale hue and her eyes had dark purple rings under them. She was covered with blankets and didn’t even move. The only reason Sans had to believe she was still alive was the gentle rise and fall of her small chest.

 

“She’s an odd one.” Undyne sighed, leaning against the wall and looking carefully at Sans. “The human, Frisk, needs to die but I can’t kill her. Not after everything that happened. Damn this wuss, I wish she was some cold blooded shit bag.” She groaned, frustrated.

 

“What happened?” Sans asked, without even daring to look away from Frisk. He placed a boney finger against her cheek, flinching slightly from the intense heat it radiated. The girl had a fever, and a bad one at that.

 

“She spared me.” Undyne sighed. “Her shoulder? That injury was supposed to be mine but she stood in the way. She even offered up her soul, basically in a silver platter, and I still couldn’t take it. Damn it. She was about to kill herself too, when I couldn’t, and I just stood there and watched. Can you believe she walked all the way over here to try and get me to take it again? The second I opened the door she passed out.” Undyne shook her head. “Can you believe her? I’d almost say she was more determined to save the monsters than I am.”

 

Sans didn’t say anything. He couldn’t say anything. Instead, he looked at her beautiful resting face, trying to remember other timelines. He pushed her bangs off her face curiously wanting to see what she looked like without the hair that hid her features. He was shocked to see a bandage covering a good chunk of her forehead.

 

“What happened?” He asked Undyne, wondering if he should take off the bandage and see what kind of wound she had.

 

“No clue. But the human is covered with older wounds.” Undyne shrugged. She tried not to care much about what happened to the human, or rather, to the only thing keeping her from freeing the monsters. She didn’t even know why she didn’t just kill her outright when she showed up on her doorstep.

 

“Older wounds?” Sans was extra concerned now. “Where?”

 

“Her arms, legs, and a nasty bruise on her stomach. Oh, and the forehead.” Undyne tapped her forehead, as if to clarify something. “Don’t worry, while I waited for you, I had Alphys take a look at her. If you take good care of the girl, she’ll live. For a while at least.” Sans stared wide eye socketed at the monster in front of him. “You forget I’m not the only deadly monster trying to kill a human.” She rolled her eyes.

 

“Oh.” He sighed softly, feeling relief flow into his veins.

 

 

“Anyways, take the girl and leave. I showed her mercy once, but that will not happen again.” Undyne scoffed, trying to seem tough. “Oh, and when she’s done using my clothes, give them back.” Sans made a look. “What? Come on, if she kept wearing her flimsy, wet outfit she’d have died by now.”

 

“Oh.” He said simply, before picking up the unnaturally light girl gently. “Thanks for your help… and for not stabbing her.” Sans started making his way towards the door but stopped. He turned his head slightly so that Undyne could get a good long look at his face. “But if you ever hurt her ever again… YOU’RE GONNA HAVE A B A D T I M E.”

 

Sans tried to make it home just as quickly as he made it to Undyne’s house if not faster. He really needed to get Frisk home and into a warmer environment. She needed to feel better as soon as possible. It took him little to no time to get inside their house. He immediately placed her on the couch and began covering her with every blanket he could find.

 

“BROTHER? WHAT ARE YOU DOIN- IS THAT THE HUMAN???” Papyrus smiled, walking out of the kitchen. His smile, however, was short lived when he saw Frisk unconscious and sickly. “IS SHE OKAY?” He asked.

 

“She’s just takin’ a nap Paps. Don’t wanna interrupt her, right?” Sans placed a small phalange on his boney lips. Papyrus nodded.

 

“WHEN DO YOU THINK SHE’LL WAKE UP?” Paps tried not to yell as loudly, but not with much success. Sans didn’t say anything. He really didn’t know. He didn’t even know IF she’d even wake up. Undyne said she’d be fine but…

 

“How about you practice that new spaghetti recipe while we wait?” Sans smiled at his older brother, knowing full well that he’d say yes. And so, they waited.

 

And waited.

 

They waited until nearly a week passed… they waited until she finally opened her beautiful chestnut eyes.


	9. Chapter 9

Frisk’s eyes took a moment to adjust to the dim light shining into what looked like Sans’ room. It didn’t really look quite like it did all those timelines ago, since it oddly looked much cleaner now, but she still recognized the layout of the room. She forced herself to sit up, immediately feeling the remnants of pain from all of her injuries. She grunted in pain and started to feel dizzy. She was determined to get up, however.

 

She placed her bare feet on the floor, feeling happy that Sans didn’t have such a tall bed. She then realized she wasn’t wearing the same clothes as before. She wore a baggy shirt and what she thought were sweat pants. When did she change into these?

 

After willing herself for a bit, she stood up with the blankets still wrapped warmly around her. At first she nearly fell back down, but she managed to catch and steady herself. She took a deep breath and leaned against the wall to stable herself. She slowly made her way towards the door. She opened it cautiously, afraid of what waited her on the other side.

 

If this was Sans’ room, this meant that Sans might be there. Last thing she remembered was Sans being pissed at her for having killed his brother once upon a timeline, and she really hated it when Sans was pissed. It was one of the few things that scared her anymore. It’s impressive when someone is more terrifying than death itself.

 

The house was empty. Frisk figured Papyrus was out with Undyne, either training or human hunting. Frisk sighed. She carefully walked down the stairs, clutching the railings like a lifeline. She didn’t trust her tiny legs to sustain her weight. Why did she feel so weak?

 

Finally, after what felt like a century and a half, she made it to the front door of the brothers’ house. She sighed softly, tugging the blankets tighter around her as though she was summoning their warmth. She needed to get to Undyne’s house. She was determined to get there, no matter what it takes.

 

She lifted a shaky hand and placed it on the doorknob. She tried turning it and opening the door, but it was oddly locked. Since when did the brother’s lock their house? She tried shaking the door open, but it wouldn’t budge.

 

“What do you think you’re doing?” Frisk froze. The anger in those words felt like poison in her veins. She felt fear overcome her. “Frisk?” That was more delicate, as though the anger no longer existed, but Frisk knew better. Slowly she turned around and nervously forced a smile.

 

“ _Hello, Sans.”_ Her trembling hands signed. She leaned against the door, hoping to keep herself from falling over. Oddly enough, she felt all her weight leave her.

 

She then realized it was because she was levitating over the ground with Sans’ blue magic covering her. She finally had the courage to look at the eldest brother, and to her surprise he looked guilty. She was about to ask him what was wrong, but was interrupted by Sans using his magic and placing her in his arms bridal style.

 

“Don’t leave.” He whispered softly. “I’m sorry Frisk.” He looked at her, knowing full well that she intended on going back to Undyne’s house and to her untimely death. He had luckily made it back in time to stop her before she found a way to unlock the door.

 

After spending an entire week cooped up inside the house, Papyrus decided he’d force Sans to go for a walk to Undyne’s house. Sans didn’t really want to go, but he couldn’t say no to Paps… Especially since the young skeleton monster was worried about his big brother. The moment Sans dropped off Papyrus at Undyne’s, he left. He didn’t want to talk to her. All he wanted to do was be beside Frisk until she woke up.

 

Unfortunately for him, he was too tired to teleport back or use a shortcut. So he settled for walking back as quickly as possible. He walked silently for a long while, but stopped dead in his tracks when he reached the bridge where Frisk nearly killed herself again. He didn’t stop to reminisce, but rather because he could have sworn he heard Frisk’s voice.

 

“Undyne, take my soul.” His eyes widened.

 

“Frisk? Where are you?” He frantically searched for her, but oddly enough she was nowhere to be found. His eyes then saw a blue flower. He realized it was an Echo Flower that had heard everything that had happened and was repeating it. It was an echo of the past. He walked towards it, sitting and paying careful attention to the sounds it repeated.

 

“Free monsters and protect them. Humans can be cruel. Please protect everyone.” Sans realized that Frisk’s voice sounded so strained, as though every word was painful to say. He felt his nonexistent heart sink with each painful sound said. Frisk had suffered the entire time.

 

He listened to Undyne’s response, and then he listened to the promise Frisk had asked for. The next set of words caught him by surprise. “Especially Toriel, Alphys, Papyrus and Sans.” The way she had said each name was so careful, and loving. The way she said his name brought a smile to his face. “Thank… you.” Sans felt sick. He was having trouble to believe that she almost died.

 

He frowned, wondering if Undyne had given her the spear to kill herself with. That’s how he found her. He also remembered Undyne mentioning the human taking a hit for her, but when did that happen?

 

“Howdy friend!” He heard a new voice coming from the blue flower. He had never heard that voice before. Who was this person? Did they save Frisk? Were they the one who attacked Undyne?

 

He waited for the flower to repeat more of what happened, to help him figure out what was going on. It was silent. Soon it began to repeat everything from the top. That was all that the flower was going to give him, and he sighed disappointedly.

 

He had continued to make his way back towards the house, teleporting inside. He was about to check on Frisk before hearing the front door being shook. He knew she was trying to save monsterkind, and he knew he shouldn’t be mad at her… but the sight of her trying so hard to die angered him so much. Why did she think that her death would fix everything? He remembered he felt a deep connection with her in past timelines, and he felt like he finally got her back. Now she was trying to leave him again. Granted his last words to her were yelling at her to leave, but he couldn’t help it. He thought she wanted to kill his brother again.

 

When he spoke to her, he immediately regretted revealing how angry he was. He wanted her to know he cared about her, but instead he made her shiver in fear. She looked so weak and so tired. Of course she was afraid… She had seen him at his worst. She had seen him when he was trying to kill her, and the worst part about it was that it wasn’t even her damn fault.

 

He now held her closely, as though she was going to disappear if he didn’t. “I remembered.” He looked at her shocked brown eyes. “You didn’t kill him Frisk.” He smiled softly, trying to comfort her. He remembered Chara’s words. He remembered them explaining how Frisk believed she was the one at fault, so maybe that had something to do with why she seemed so sad all of the time. He hoped to make her feel better, but instead she just looked away from him. She looked sad and ready to cry.

 

“ _Mine were the hands that killed everyone, Sans. It is my fault. I should have stopped Chara. I didn’t. It’s my fault. Let me fix things.”_ Sans felt his grip on Frisk tighten.

 

“You dying will fix nothing.” He said simply. He didn’t want to have this conversation, mostly because he could see how sad she was getting. He needed to make her feel happy. She should at least be back to full health before they talked about this. “Hey kid.” She looked at him. “How about we watch some TV?” He asked, smiling fondly at her and trying to take her mind off the subject. “I think Mettaton should be on by now, I promise it’ll be pretty humerus.”

 

Frisk blinked and looked at him for a solid silent second. She then proceeded to giggle. He was happy to see her smile, even if it wasn’t as radiant as he remembered it being in some other timeline. It was something.

 

He carried her to the couch, letting her rest her head against his clavicle. He then grabbed the blankets covering her and pulled them a bit so that they would cover them both. Finally, he used his magic to grab the remote control and turn on the telly. He smiled looking down at Frisk. She looked a bit more peaceful, and she truly was.

Oh how she missed watching television with Sans. How she missed Sans. She still felt depression and sorrow hang over her like a curse, but for now she decided she could postpone dying.


End file.
